Guy anchor



March 19, 1935.

G. M D- JOHNS ET AL GUY ANCHOR Filed Feb. 6, 193

2; QAAKAW' 7 JMI Patented Mar. 19, 1935 UNITED. stares 1,994,520 7 I GUYANCHOR.

George McDIJohn-s, Sappington, and Edsel Karl Smith and Thomas T.Richards, St. Louis, Mo.,

assignors to Smithjohns, inc St. Louis, Mo., a

corporation of Missouri K Application February 6, 1933, Serial No.655,328 7 18 Claims. (oi. 189-92) This invention pertains toguy anchorssuch as are used in electricaltransmission lines for anchoring pole guysand the like.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide a guy anchor whichmay be placed in the ground by means of simple and convenient-manipulation. V

Another object is to provide such an anchor which shall be strong and ofsimple construction.

Another object is to provide such an anchor which shall be cheap tomanufacture and simple to assemble. 7

Another object is to provide. such an anchor of .the exp'ansible typewhich may be expanded by'simple operations and which may besecurelylocked in any expanded position.

Further. objects will appear from the following description taken inconnection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a plan View of-an anchor embodying this invention;

Figure 2 is a section on line 2-2, Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a plan view of a base portion of the anchor; J v

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the head;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the pivot re-' taining ring or bracketfor the operating pawls;

Figure 6 is a perspective detail ofa pawl; and Figure '7 is a detailsection on line 7'7- of FigureZ;

i Referring to the drawing, 1 designates a base on which the other partsof the anchor may be assembled. This base has an upstanding shank 2 at.the center thereof which is provided with an axial bore, a part ofwhich may be threaded as indicated at 3, to receive the correspondingly,

threaded anchor rods. The lower portion of the shank 2 adjacent the base1 has a cylindrical outer surface while the upper portion 5 is angularin form, this form'being hexagonal in the embodiment illustrated; Theend of the shank is equipped with a six sided flange 6v alternate sidesof which project further than the others. The base 1 is generallydisk-shaped and may be reenforcecl on its underside by suitable webs '7.At suitable points on the periphery of the disk, radial guide slots 8are provided. In the embodiment illustrated, the anchor is arranged forthree expansive anchor plates. Accordingly three guide slots 8 areprovided at uniform intervalsabout the circumference of :the base. Theguide slots 8 are formed in lugs placed at different eleva-. tions sothat each may accommodate one of a. set of superimposed plates.

The anchorplates 15 are also generally of disk: shape, but have theircircumferences notched or recessed as indicated at'9, for a purposewhich willflpresently appear. Each disk is provided withv a radial slot10, adapted to fit over the shank 2 of the base and to'act as'a guideslot for radial movement of the plate on the base. Ra-

'dialiy arranged on the opposite side of the disk.

from the guide slot 10 is a series of ratchet teeth 11. The outer edge12 of each plate may be sharpened so as to facilitate its penetrationinto the ground when expanding. Each plate is pro.- vided on'the undersurface thereof with a radial rib 13 adapted to engage one of the guide8191's 8, This rib engaging the slot 8 and the slot 10. engaging theshank 2, form the guides for the plate 15 in its radial expandingmovement.

The three plates 15 are placed upon the base 1 in superimposed relationso that one lies upon another and with their axes of movement indifferentdirections uniformly spaced from one another. Each slot 10 isprovided near one end with a notch 14 enlarging the slot slightly atthis point. The purpose of this notch is so that in mounting the plateon the shank 2,,one of the projecting sides of the six-sided flange 6may be passed through the notch as the slot 10 would not otherwise bewide enough to permit this flange to pass. As each plate is placed onthe base it must be turned so that its slot 10 is alined witha'transverse lug 16 formed on the shank 2. This lug is placed at anelevation above the base 1 just sufiicient to accommodate the threeplates stacked one upon the other. Each plate must be turned out of itsnormal position in order to aline its slot with this lug. Accordinglywhen the plate has been passed over the lug and'down upon the base or onthe next plate below; it is turned to its normal'position and thismovement turns the slot 10 out of alinement with the lug 16. This lug,therefore, provides a locking element to keep the plates in position onthe base 1.

,Arranged'to fit over vtheshank 2 is a hollow cylindrical head 17, shownin perspective in Figure 4. This head has abore'of variable shape anddiameter; The lower portion, 18. of this bore is'generally sixesided inshape to match the shape of the flange 6, Above the portion 18 is aportion 19 which is generally cylindrical in form andof a diametersufficient-to accommodate the pro jecting face of the flange .6. It willbe seen that by this arrangement, the head may be passed over the flange6 and then rotated through an anglev of about to cause the projectingsides. of the flange 6 to lodge upon the shoulders .20

formed by the angular faces of the portion at different elevations onthe head,'such vdiiierspring.

ences corresponding to the diiierence in elevation of the, differentplates Just below each of the lugs 23 a flat 24 is formed on the head.This gives the lower portion of thehead'a gen erally triangular shape.Loosely fitted on this angular portion of the head is a bearing ring orbracket-25, shown inperspective in Figure 5. This ring is provided withbearing lugs 26 spaced at different elevations to correspond with theelevations of the lugs 23. The ring 25 is assembled on the head in sucha way that each pair of lugs 26 matches one of the lugs 23 to provide apivot bearing for the T-head '27 of a toggle or pawl 28. The body of thepawl 28 fits between the lugs 26 while the T-head rests thereon andbelow the lug 23 as will be clear from Figure 2.

t The pawls 28, of which there are three in number to correspond withthe three plates, are each provided with an abutment 29 extendingoutwardly from the T-head 27 in a position to be engaged by the lug 23in such a manner as to force the outer end of the pawl 28 downwardlyagainst the anchor plate. The lower end of the pawl 23 is provided witha sharpened tip adapted to engage in the ratchet teeth 11. Just abovethis sharpened tip, an outwardly extending lug 30 is formed on the pawl,the purpose of which will presently be explained. Above the lug 30 is asecondlug forming therebetween a notch 31. Mounted between the uppermostplate 15 and the lower surface of the ring 25 is a spring 32. Thisspring is preferably large enough in diameterto'fit over the ends of thelug 16 to be centered thereby- The lower surface of the ring 25 may alsobe provided with a suitable seat for this In assembling this anchor, theplates are first fitted over' the shank 2, passing the flange 6 throughthe notch 14, then turning the plate to bring the slot 10 into alinementwith the lug 16 and after passing said lug to turn the plate was to fitits rib 13 into the appropriate guide slot 8. The three plates areassembled in succession in this manner, each one resting upon the onebelow it with'its'recess 9 exposing the ratchet teeth of the latter.The. spring 32 is then placed over the lug 16 to restupon the uppermostplate. The ring 25 is now placed upon the spring and the head 1'7inserted in the ring 25 with the lugs 23 matching the lugs 26 in properorder. 'In so doing,'the six-sided part of the flange 6 passes into thevsix-sided portion 18 of the bore of the, head When these parts have thusbeen assem bled and downward pressure is applied to the head so as tocompress the spring 32 until the shoulder 20 passes below-the hexagonalflange 6 whereupon the head is rotated so as to bring the projectingsides of the flange 6 over the shoulder 20 and, upon retraction of thehead 17 said head is locked on the shank. In this position the pivotbe'arings'23-'--26 are brought into'radial alinementwith' the ratchetteeth 11 of the different plates. By compressing the spring 32 'so as toseparate the lugs. 23 and 26 the pivot heads27 of the pawls 28 may beinserted in said pivot bearings and when the spring 32 is released theywill be held in their bearings. The abutment 29 engaging the lug 23forces each pawl downwardly so that its tip engages the teeth 11. Therod 4 may now be inserted in' the thread 3, anut 33,

having first been screwed up to the end of the thread thereon. The rodis screwed in far enough to bringthe nut 33 into engagement with theflange 21 but notsufiicient to cause downward movement of the head 17which leaves a proper clearance to permit downward movement of thehead'17 during the expanding operation. 'It will be seen that the entireassembling operation, is effected without the use of tools or separatefasteners, the parts being locked together by the peculiarities of theirown particular shapes.

The spring 32 provides for maintaining all the parts locked ina'ssembled'relation. Moreover,

the pressure of this spring keeps the plates in frictional engagementwith one another and with the base so that'the plates are retainedagainst movement until'positively expanded by proper operation of themechanism. With the device thus assembled andall the plates in their.contracted position, as shown in Figure 2, the. anchor may now beinserted in the hole drilled in the ground for that purpose. This holeis ordinarily of a diameter just sufiicient to accommodate the anchor inits contracted'forin. After the anchor has been lowered to the hole asuitable impact tool, preferably one formedto' fit around the rod 4 isoperated to deliver a succession of blows to the rim 22 of the head. Theforce of each blow causes compression of the spring 32 by the loweringof the head'l'l. This movement of the head causes the pawls. 28, bytheir toggle action, to'force the plates. 15 radially outwardly'againstand into the earth surround ing the hole. Between blows when thepressure is released, the spring32 forces the, head 17v upwardly andthereby retractsthe pawls 28, whose lower tips drag inwardly over theteeth 11 to engage a new tooth further inward than the one justengaged-the plates 15 being'frictionallyheld stationary during theretracting movement. It will benoted that the teeth 11 are arcuate inform so as to allow a certain variance in the an.- gular positions ofthe pawls. Thus by, delivering successive blowsto the head,.the pawlsare caused to exert a feeding action so as to'successively engagedifferent teeth 11 and work the plates outwardly to cause the same topenetrate the earth surrounding the hole. have been fully expanded, thestem 4' may be screwed down so as to cause the nut 33 to force the head17 downwardly, compressing the spring and forcing the pawls 28 outwardlyagainst the teeth 11 and when screwedidown to its fullest When theplates extent the rod thus locks the entire mechanism in expandedposition. The hole may now, be filled and the anchor is ready for use. 1

Under some circumstances difierences in the hardness of the earthencountered by'the different plates or in case certain plates shouldencounter. rock formations, there is enough flexibility in the entirestructure to permit the action of the pawls 28, even though one or more,of the plates may be blocked from further movement.- In case some of theplatesshould feed 'fasterthan others at the limit of movementof theplate the pawl drops inside of the lasttooth .llwiththe lug 30 restingon said tooth; TThisTlug is. long,

enough. horizontally to accommodate a back and forth movementsufiicient. to permit the other pawls to continueworking'until each hasmoved its plate out to its fullest extent. The notch 31 is provided sothat the device may be locked for handling or shipment in its contractedposition by wrapping a wire about the three pawls and resting in' thenotches 31 to bind the three pawls together against feeding movement.The plate and'the base may also be provided with. alined holes 34through which wires or other binding devices may be passed for'the samepurpose.

In places where it may be diificult to expand the anchor by impact onthe head, the expansion may be accomplished by repeatedly screwing downthen-0d 4'so as to'causethe nut 33 to depress the head 17 and expand theplates, and then screwing back the rod 4 .to release the head and permitthe spring 32 to retract the pawls.

It willbe seen that this invention provides a guy anchor of simple andrugged construction and one which is very effective in use. The partsmay all be made by casting withoutany machine operation exceptthecutting. 'of-the threads The parts are assembled without extrafastenings and when assembled are securely but yieldingly maintainedlocked in assembled relation. The design is such that the action inexpanding the plates is positive and certain and capable of theapplication of great power to force the plates upwardly. When expandedthe anchor has nearly twice the diameterthat it has in contracted formso that secure purchase on the ground is assured.

While this device has been described as a unitary instrument, it will beunderstood, of course, that individual features and sub-combinationsthereof may be useful by themselves without reference to other featuresor to the complete combination. It is understood, therefore, that theemployment of such individual features or subcombinations iscontemplated by this invention and within the scope of the appendedclaims.

It is obvious that various changes may be made, within the scope of theappended claims, inthe details of construction without departing fromthe spirit of this invention; it is to be understood, therefore, thatthis invention is not limited to the specific details shown and/0rdescribed.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. A guy anchor, comprising, a base, a plurality of anchor platesexpandibly movable on said base, ratchet teeth on said plates, a stemupstanding from said base, a head movable on said stem, pawls engagingsaid head and engageable with said teeth to expand said plates, andmeans for automatically retracting said pawls.

2. A guy anchor, comprising, a base, a plurality of anchor platesexpandibly movable on said base, ratchet teeth on said plates, a stemupstanding from said base, a head movable on said stem, pawls pivoted onsaid head and engageable with said teeth providing toggle elementsbetween said head and said plates whereby impact on said head willoperate to expand said plates, and means for automatically retractingsaid pawls along said teeth.

3. A guy anchor, comprising, a base, a plurality of anchor platesexpandibly movable on said base, ratchet teeth onsaid plates, a stemupstanding from said base, a head movable on said stem, pawls pivoted onsaid head and engageable with said teeth providing toggle elementsbetween said head and said plates whereby impact on said spring meansadapted to retract said pawls when said head is released.

4. A guy anchor, comprising, a base, a plurality of..anchor platesexpandibly movable onsaid basegratchet teeth on said plates, a stem.upstanding .from said base, a head 'movable on said stem, pawls engagingsaid head and engageable with saiditeethto expand said plates, means forautomatically retracting said pawls along -said teeth,. and meansforgpermanently locking said pawls to hold said platesin expandedposition.

5.:A. guyanchor, comprising, a base, a plurality of anchor platesexpandibly movable on said base, ratchet teeth on said plates, astemupstanding from said base, a head movable on said stem, pawlsengaging said head and engageable with saidte'eth to expand said plates,means for automatically retracting said pawls. along said teeth,andmeans for permanently locking said head adapted to lock said pawls tohold said plates rality of. anchor plates assembled in superimposedrelation for expandible movement on said base, operating'means forexpanding said plates loosely-assembled on said base and engageablewithsaid plates,.and yielding means effective to maintain all said partsin permanently assembled.

relation while permitting expansion of said plates.

'7; A guy anchor, comprising, a base, a plurality of anchor plates.assembled in superimposed'relation for expandible movement on said base,operating means for expanding said plates loosely assembled on said baseand engageable with said plates, all said. parts being loosely assembledin interlocking relation with each other, and a single spring adapted tomaintain all said parts interlocked in assembled relation.

8. A guy anchor, comprising, a base, a plurality of anchor platesexpandibly movable on said base, ratchet teeth on said plates, a stemupstanding from said base, a head movable on said stem, pawls pivoted onsaid head and engageable with said teeth providing toggle elementsbetween said head and said plates whereby impact on said head willoperate to expand said plates, means adapted to retract said pawls alongsaid teeth, and means adapted to forcibly maintain said pawls inengagement with said teeth.

9. A guy anchor, comprising, a base, a plurality of anchor platesexpandibly movable on said base, ratchet teeth on said plates, a stemupstanding from said base, a head movable on said stem, pawls pivotedfrom said head and engageable with said teeth providing toggle elementsbetween said head and said plates whereby impact on said head willoperate'to expand said plates, means adapted to retract said pawls alongsaid teeth, and means on said pawls receiving the impact adapted toforce said pawls into engagement with said teeth.

10. A guy anchor, comprising, a base, a plurality of anchor platesexpandibly movable on said base, ratchet teeth on said plates, a stemupstanding from said base, a head movable on said stem, pawls engagingsaid head and engagable with said teeth to expandsaid plates, an anchorrod threaded into said base and having means engageable with said headwhereby the latter may be depressed by screwing in said rod, and meansfor automatically retracting said pawls upon release of said head.

head .will operate to expand said plates, and

,rality of anchor plates expandibly movable on said base, ratchetteethon said plates, a stem upstanding from said base, a head'movable onsaid stem, pawls pivoted on said head and engageable with said teethproviding toggle elements between said head and said plates wherebyimpact on saidshead willoperate to expand said-plates, and-spring meansadapted to maintain said pawls *inengagement with said plates and toretract said pawls when said head is released.

12.;A guy anchor, comprising, a base, a plurality of anchor plates.expandibly movable on said base, ratchetteeth on said plates, a stemupstanding from said base, .a head movable on said stem, pawls pivotedon said head and engageable with said teeth providing toggle elementsbetween said head and said plates whereby impact on said head willoperate to expand said plates, and spring means adapted to maintain saidplates frictionally against movement and to retract said pawls when saidhead is released.

13. A guy anchor, comprising, a base, a plurality of anchor platesexpandibly' movable .on said base, ratchet teethon said plates, a stemupstanding from said base, a head movable on said st'em, pawls pivotedon said head and en'- gageable with said;teeth providing toggle elementsbetween said head and said plates wherebyimpact-on said head willoperate to expand said plates, an anchor rod threaded'into said baseandvhaving means engageable with said head whereby-the latter may bedepressed by screwing in said rod, and meansfor automatically retractingsaid pawls upon release of said head.

14. In an anchor of the character described, an operating head having apivot seat, a pivot ring loosely-mounted on said head and having a pivotits seat.

15. A guy anchor, comprising, abase, a m:

rality of anchor plates expandibly movable on said base,ratchet-teeth'on said zplates, a stem- I upstanding from said base, ahead movable :on

said stem, pawls engaging-said head and engage able with said teeth toexpand said plates, means for automatically retracting said pawls, andastener receivingmeanson said pawls adapted to retain binding means forsecuringsaid pawls'for carriage.

rality of anchor platessuperimposed for expan'a sible movement on said:base, expanding means on said plates, a stem upstanding from said base,an expanding'head movable on-said stem-pawls arranged above said platesadapted to, engage" said expanding means, and pawl seats arranged V atdifierentlevels on said head. 17. In a guy anchor of the characterdescribed,

'an expanding head having a plurality of pawl seats at different'levelsthereon. a 18. In a pawl-operated guy anchor ofi'the char,-

acter described,an expanding head having a plu= 1 V rality of pawl seatsat different levels thereon, and a pawl-retaining member mountable onsaid'hea'd and having pawl seats thereon at diiferen'tylevelscorresponding with and iadapted'to'be opposed to said pawl seats'on saidhead.

GEORGE 'McD. JoHNsQ EDSEL KARL SMITH;

THOMAS T. 'RICHARDS. j

, '5 16. A guy anchor, comprising, a base,'a plu-'

